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Self-inflicted immobilisation
A robot which eliminates itself either accidentally or on purpose (via several different ways) has achieved a self-inflicted immobilisation. This differs from hostile immobilisations (which are inflicted by enemy robots), malfunctions (in robot design or engineering) and hazard immobilisations (which are inflicted by House Robots or arena hazards, such as the floor flipper and spikes). Self-inflicted immobilisations are often referred to as a robot committing suicide. Definition The key term in deciding if an immobilisation has been self-inflicted or not is to determine whether there has been an avoidable error. An avoidable error cannot be in design or engineering, nor a broad error such as a Gauntlet route or choosing to take on a certain robot. They must be concise, specific events which directly cause an immobilisation. Examples are listed below. Arena Hamper Often robots became immobilised due to some arena component (not hazards, these were considered immobilisations), by crashing into a wall or getting stuck in part of an arena. Self-Inflicted *In the Stock Car Trial, Demolisher crashed into a wall at top speed, flipping itself over. With no other robot involved, and Demolisher's own avoidable action responsible for its immobilisation, this is considered a self-inflicted immobilisation. *Similarly, when both Kat 3 and The Steel Avenger got their axes stuck in the arena floor, this was an avoidable error and had it solely cost them the match, it would have been designated here. *During Dantomkia's battle with S3, Dantomkia became stuck beneath an angle grinder. It is impossible to tell whether the impact, angle grinder, S3's blade, or Refbot's push free were responsible for the immobilisation. However, whichever it was, it was due to Dantomkia's running into the side wall in the first place. Therefore, if a robot takes terminal damage whilst caught in a position it stuck itself in, it is considered a self-inflicted immobilisation. Not Self-Inflicted *Contrarily, when Vector of Armageddon attempted the Gauntlet in Heat E of Series 1, it became stuck attempting the second ramp. The reason for the immobilisation was that Vector of Armageddon's ground clearance was too low. Therefore, the robot's design meant that it would never have been able to traverse that second ramp. Getting wedged was not an avoidable error, and this is therefore not a case of self-inflicted immobilisation. Although it can be argued that taking the ramp at all was an error, Vector of Armageddon did succeed at the first ramp, and nearly all robots had succeeded in taking the ramp. Therefore, it is not reasonable to believe that taking the ramp would have ended in immobilisation. *When Psychosprout drove forward in the Labyrinth trial, it collided with REALI-T and rolled back to the start. Fire When a robot breaks down after catching fire, it is deemed to have been immobilised by fire. Self-Inflicted *Terror-Bull chose to light its tail on fire in its Series 4 battle with Raizer Blade. This turned out to be an erroneous decision as Terror-Bull's motors burnt out. Not Self-Inflicted *Most immobilisations by fire, although in the same method, are not self-inflicted. Technophobic burst into flames in Series 3, but only after it was pushed onto the flames by Pitbull. Being pushed was not Technophobic's choice, and was therefore not an avoidable error. Overflip Although most thought to be classed as a malfunction, an overflip is when a robot's weapon malfunctions or contains too much power so that a robot immobilises itself through this. Self-Inflicted *In the battle against Napalm, the first Gemini twin flipped itself onto its back, where its wheelie bar pinned it off the ground. If a robot puts itself into a position where it becomes immobilised, it is considered self-inflicted. Not Self-Inflicted *Inverterbrat's flipper became wedged beneath the robot and beached it off the ground when trying to flip The Creature. Although this would seem like a self-inflicted immobilisation, there was no avoidable error, as the flipper in fact malfunctioned to pin it in place. Therefore, this was a malfunction. *In trying to flip S.M.I.D.S.Y. out of the arena in the heat final, Chaos 2 flipped itself over, and was unable to right itself. Whilst this could be seen as a self-immobilisation, it was later revealed the reason Chaos 2 couldn't self-right was because S.M.I.D.S.Y. had damaged its flipper panel. It could be argued that, as S.M.I.D.S.Y. played a direct role in preventing Chaos 2 from recovering, it could not be seen as a self-inflicted immobilisation. Stranded To be stranded, a robot has entered a position where it cannot move. The most common cases of being stranded are early grills and the Pit of Oblivion. Self-Inflicted *Most infamously, when Killerhurtz drove across the arena and into the pit, there was no possible clash with Cerberus that could have caused the pitting, with Cerberus still on the other side of the arena. John Reid's actions were therefore an avoidable error, and Killerhurtz's pitting is considered self-immobilisation. *In a different take on things, when Cassius 2 attempted to pit Pussycat in Heat M, Cassius overshot the mark in its attempt to do so and fell into the pit. Despite Pussycat being involved in the tussle, Cassius made an avoidable error by putting too much acceleration into its push. Therefore, where a robot pits itself whilst attempting to pit another, it is considered self-inflicted immobilisation. Not Self-Inflicted *When Eric drove into the pit whilst trying to push King Buxton in, this had come as a result of King Buxton pushing Eric towards the pit and getting both robots stranded with half their wheels suspended over the pit. Whilst Eric did technically immobilise itself eventually, it had only done so due to actions caused by its opponent and being unable to escape. If Eric had been able to pull itself away from the pit and then fall in, it would have been classed as an error. *When Stinger bounced into the pit in Series 3, it may have been classed as an avoidable error by driving such a difficult-to-control machine near the pit. However, when Stinger fell in, it did so by driving into a charging Mace 2 and bouncing off. Therefore, it is impossible to tell whether Stinger's trajectory change was due to Mace 2 (making it a hostile immobilisation), or due to Stinger's own infamous lack of control. With such doubt, the battle cannot be considered a self-inflicted immobilisation. *When Wild Willy got itself stuck over the pit, this had occurred after it had driven over an arena spike, which in turn caused it to get stuck in forward drive. Driving into the pit was therefore was not an avoidable error, as the team had no control over the action. *When Wild Thing dashed over the descending pit and failed to get away in time, this is generally not considered an avoidable error. Often there was a delay in the pit descending after the release was pressed, so it cannot be accurately judged whether a robot made a mistake by driving across the descending pit, or were taken unawares by its descent. The exception is Major Tom, who actually activated the pit and knew it would be descending. Notable Occurrences Series 1 Series 2 Series 3 Series 4 Extreme Series 1 Series 5 Series 6 Extreme Series 2 Series 7 2016 Series Notable Occurrences in International Series US Season 2 Nickelodeon Dutch Series 1 Category:Terminology